SLAM…Dunk!

Aww…Mondays

Lucy, our American Cocker Spaniel and house princess, makes us say “Aww” on a regular basis. She is smart, funny, energetic, and always wants to know where her two humans are located. She prefers that we are in the same room so she can keep an eye on both of us with minimum effort. From her favorite chair in the den, she can keep track of activities in the front of the house too. Yes, Lucy is an awesome 2 year old cocker spaniel.

 

 

Monday’s Music Moves Me

It has come to my attention that I have completely blown this week’s theme. I’m not even sure where I got the following theme, but I can assure you I didn’t make it up. Oh well, it’s posted and comments are coming in, so it’s too late to retract the content now. I’m just going to chalk this one up to a “senior moment.”

I honestly thought that the musical theme this week is body parts. Well, that could go a lot of different directions but the first thing that crossed my mind was the mind. There is Georgia on My Mind and Always on My Mind that come from classic country music and this song, Do I Ever Cross Your Mind. One of the first “vinyls” that I ever purchased was the classic Modern Sounds in Country Western Music by Ray Charles and I was a Ray Charles fan from that moment on. One of his last releases was a duets effort titled Genius Loves Company and one of my favorite tracks is Ray and Bonnie Raitt singing “Do I Ever Cross Your Mind.

I have several favorite female vocalists. Linda Ronstadt, Trish Yearwood, Carol King, Karen Carpenter, Janis Joplin, Grace Slick, and the ladies of Heart are among my personal favorites. One artist that seems to get overlooked in the list of favorites is Anne Murray. While this is a signature Willie Nelson song, Anne had a hit with “Always on My Mind”.

Too much stress on the mind can cause headaches and heartaches and it appears that some people are a walking around looking to be an intentional heartache in someone else’s life. One of my favorite country artists of the 90’s was Dwight Yoakam. Dwight and Buck Owens championed the Bakersfield Sound in country music which brought a little hillbilly and a little rock and roll into mainstream country. While this may not have been a huge hit for Dwight, I love this video.

Okay, okay, let’s close this out with another Ray Charles classic, from his appearance on Midnight Special in 1976 “Georgia on My Mind.” Have a blessed week.

 

Cold Morning – Busy Feeder

Aww…Mondays

Lucy; “Come on dad, I’m trying to take a nap here.”

“You’re just not going to let it go until you get a photo are you? Okay, take the picture already.”

Monday’s Music Moves Me

WooHoo…it’s freedom of choice week! Last time I had my pick I chose to feature Mr. Leon Russell. Leon was an iconic cog in a large wheel of talented piano players/keyboard artists in rock n roll music. So, today I am going to feature a few more ivory ticklers that you may or may not recognize. First up is none other than “Killer” Jerry Lee Lewis. Jerry Lee was one of the first “Wild Child” musicians in rock n roll, both on and off stage. He had two famous cousins, the Pentecostal evangelist Jimmy Swaggart and country music legendary piano player Mickey Gilly. Jerry Lee was the first keyboard player to get up off of the bench and pound the piano into submission. He, like Leon Russell was a major influence on Sir Elton John. While Lewis was a founding father of rock n roll, he was also a very good country artist, so I have selected one of his performances from the country side to feature here.

Who am I kidding? You have to see “Killer” in the beginning, when the whole world was asking what this thing called rock n roll was all about. It was all about A Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On!!!

One of my all time favorite keyboard masters was Ray Charles. Two of the first albums that I owned were by Ray. I also own one of his last albums, a duet compilation with various artists. Ray injected rock n roll with a heavy dose of the blues and the sound was awesome.

Next up is an artist that played in Ray Charles group before going his own way. Most bands have three guitars, lead, rhythm and bass, a drummer and maybe a keyboard. How many groups do you know that have three keyboards on the platform, a baby grand, a Hammond B3 organ, and electric keyboard? Billy Preston also had a horn section similar to Blood, Sweat & Tears and Chicago. It all made for a great sound.

I know, there was Fats Domino, Billy Joel, Floyd Cramer and others that I have left out, but no list of great keyboard artists is complete without Sir Elton John. I have been a fan of his since the beginning. I saw him twice in concert and they were the best concerts that I ever attended. The word “showman” just barely describes Elton’s talent and ability to connect with the crowd. The first time I heard “Your Song”, I was a fan and I purchased every Elton John album over the next decade. Elton is preparing for a three year farewell tour, but we will always have his recordings.

I saw Elton in the early 70’s and he rocked the house with Pinball Wizzard. This clip from his Vegas show is even more theatrical than his early efforts. Play on Elton, play on!

During the course of the past few years our fair city has seen multiple murals appear on local buildings. Some are very colorful while others look like oversized pen and ink sketches. I have picked some of my favorites to share.

This is one of the latest works located on a repurposed manufacturing facility. The building now houses a cooking school, a couple of restaurants and several other businesses. The artwork here is simply stunning.

I think the message in this two story work is that justice isn’t always blind and the scales may be tipped slightly in one direction. Just a thought.

This work is part of a much larger piece. I find it incredibly powerful. You just can’t help but look at it. You may find it attractive or not so much, but it demands your attention.

At the opposite end of the same wall is this cartoon-like panel. I used the “Whole New Adventure” panel as a background for one of our grand daughter’s senior pictures.

Finally, on the rear of the same building is this whimsical piece. I think the character looks a little like Prince. I’m not sure about all of the bubble faces.  I must say that I do like these murals better than random street art or graffiti. Have a blessed week.

Aww…Monday’s

Cocker Spaniel…’nuf said.

Monday’s Music Moves Me

This week’s musical theme is “mail”, “soup” or “vacuum”. Since I had no clue how to work soup or vacuum into the conversation, I chose “mail”. The first song that came to mind is one from my youth/young adult years. I was always fond of vocals with a little gravel in them and “The Letter” was a favorite of mine. Originally recorded in 1967 by The Box Tops, I didn’t hear this song until after I came home from Vietnam in ’68. However, in 1970 last weeks featured musician, Leon Russell and Joe Cocker turned this song into an anthem on the Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour. Enjoy.

The next song actually has mail in the title. It comes from folk singer, the late Harry Chapin. His clear vocals and simple instrumental arrangements were always a pleasure to listening. His biggest hit was “Cats in the Cradle” that spoke to the issue of parents who don’t spend quality time with their kids, shouldn’t expect the kids to spend quality time with them later in life. The Bible speaks to training a child properly and that they will generally act accordingly. Okay, back to the mail. Harry wrote a song about a man who ordered a bride, sight unseen, through the mail… and we thought internet relationships were risky! The song is appropriately titled “Mail Order Annie”.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, track season is in full swing and spring soccer season is just around the corner. That means that the youngest grand daughter is going to be a very busy young lady. Last spring she won the conference outdoor high jump championship and placed third in the state. This past week-end she finished fourth in the state indoor championships, so we are off to a good start. I like going to the track meets because there is often several events going on at the same time, but they do tend to last all day. I will say that indoor is much more difficult to photograph because of the restricted space and the amateur photographer/grandpa can’t get press credentials to access the infield. So here are a few images of the competitors that I managed to capture. The girls finished second as a team and the boys finished first.

The girls 4×800 relay team took first place in the state indoor championships.

The youngest grand daughter finished 4th overall in high jump by clearing 5′-0″. She would like to get to 5′-4″ during the outdoor season and defend her conference championship.

I have to admit, I love watching the pole vault. The young man on the right vaulted 16′-6″ then attempted to break the state record at 17′-1″ but just didn’t have enough energy left to make it happen.

The long jump is another of my favorite events because I was a long jumper in high school. I would much rather jump 21 feet horizontally into a pit of sand than try to catapult myself 17 feet into the air and possibly not land on the cushions below.

Hurdles requires speed, agility, timing and endurance to be successful. I never did think running over obstacles was good idea. Too many opportunities for a crash and burn.

That’s all for this week. Have a blessed week and stop back on Wednesday to see the Wordless Wednesday post. Later!